Every month, I post one of my poems (paired with one of my pictures), sharing its origin and some of its essence. Here is my Poem & Pic of the Month for October 2014:
Not Now, I'm Busy
by Patrick Bishop
Where does the rush of day come from?
And the buzz of night?
Fed by our insatiable appetite
for more, more, more!
Question: How are you?
Correct answer: Busy.
This never-ending busyness
worn like a badge of honor
The mind dances on either side
of now's razored edge,
back and forth,
skipping between past and future
Never finding the deep peace
in the sliver sharpness
of elusive now
Banging ourselves against its edge,
blinded by the grand illusion,
we are chaffed, unknowing
(as is the only way we know).
Too close to see its life.
We don't recognize now's brilliance
because it is disguised as boredom
and not enough
yet... it is all in all
Background
Written in October 2013, this poem is fairly straightforward. It was written in the frustration of the busyness of life. The next time you ask someone how they are, see how many people give an answer in the realm of "busy." And it's true. Many of us are busier than we've ever been before. What happened to all those time-saving devices? They didn't save us any time -- they just did things quicker, so we could do more.
Ah, but if we breathe, let go, remember where we are, what we're doing, and come back to this moment, everything is okay again. Even if for just a bit. Everything is right here and now; always. As one of my teachers, Russ Hudson, says, try sneaking up on presence. We can't -- if we show up, it's here.
The Picture
Jellyfish don't worry about being too busy. They live now; that's all they know. This was taken at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago during a summer vacation trip in 2013 with my daughter Carlie. I love the colors and thought it was an interesting contrast to my fretting over the busy-ness of life. Maybe the answer is to be a jellyfish, just for a moment.